Portsmouth boss bushes aside claims from Peterborough United officials that they were lucky to win last weekend's League One clash.

Danny Cowley. Photo: Jacques Feeney/Getty Images.

MacAnthony was frustrated by his side’s 2-1 League One defeat at Fratton Park last weekend when the hosts scored with their only two efforts on target.

And the Posh chief used his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast to insist his side should have beaten Pompey in the race for promotion from League One.

Posh boss Grant McCann also claimed the better team lost in his post-match summary.

MacAnthony said: “I watched Portsmouth smash us 2-0 at their place, the season we got promoted (20/21), but this wasn’t that kind of game.

“Portsmouth are top of the table for a reason. They have a good management team in the Cowley brothers and have put together a good team.

"But let’s be honest. They had two shots on target and scored two goals.

“We went 1-0 up and it should have been two or three nil in the first-half. In the second-half it was a nothing game. Portsmouth had two shots on target all game. They had two shots on target and scored from both.

"‘We had 60 per cent possession, and it’s true possession can mean nothing, but we’re at their place and they are supposed to be favourites with their big home crowd.

"I was angry we were losing to Portsmouth, but if that’s the best team in the division…It’s not like when we played them two years ago and I came away really concerned about our chances. Anyone watching the game clever enough who watches football will know we’re a bloody good team. Right now you can take advantage of us not being great in both boxes - but it will not last long.”

Cowley’s response was quick to the point. Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton criticised Pompey’s diredt playing style recently.

But Cowley told the Portsmouth News: “For us, it’s to stay focussed, keep trying to get better and trying to improve. That’s what we’re trying to do.

“We’ll allow other people to have their opinions and they can talk about our style, our formations and whatever else they want to talk about.

“We’re not going to lose too much energy thinking about that. From my experience my best teams always got criticised more.

"We won’t lose too much sleep about it.”